Two Jobs. One Filter. Zero Noise.

A first-principles operating card for sales leaders — stripped down to the only things that actually move revenue.

Your only two jobs
01

Fill the pipe

Ensure enough qualified opportunities enter the funnel every week. BDRs, MQLs, AE outbound, partners, referrals — it doesn’t matter how, it matters how many.

02

Coach to close

Make your reps better at converting pipeline to revenue. 1:1 deal coaching on the top 2 deals per rep, using qualification gaps as the agenda — not status updates.

The only question that matters

“Does this directly create pipeline or help my team close a deal?”

If no → decline, delegate, or make it async. If maybe → time-box to 15 min. If yes → do it now.

The math — based on a $5M annual goal
$25M
Total pipeline needed
at a 20% win rate
$2M/mo
New pipeline per month
to stay on pace
100opps
Total opps needed
at $50K ASP
Change one thing Pipeline needed Opps needed Effect
Win rate 20% → 30% $16.7M 333 33% less pipeline
ASP $50K → $75K $25M 67 33% fewer deals
Both $16.7M 67 Half the work

Pipeline comes first because it’s the prerequisite for everything else. But a 10-point win rate improvement has the same effect as doubling your pipeline — and coaching is the cheapest lever you have.

Hard rules
→1:1s are deal coaching, not status updates. The rep preps the brief. You coach on the top 2 deals.
→No meeting longer than 30 minutes unless a customer is in the room.
→Default to async. If it can be a Slack message or a Loom, it’s not a meeting.
→Protect your working hours. Overtime is a system failure, not dedication.
→Morale comes from winning. Focus on creating the conditions for wins, not on discussing the absence of them.
Feels important but isn’t

Perfect CRM hygiene — clean data is nice, closed deals are necessary.

Perfect forecasts — at typical win rates, precision is an illusion. Focus on at-bats.

Being in every meeting — your absence is a gift to your calendar.

salesleadershipfirst-principlessystems-thinking